Of the one hundred members of the U.S. Senate, none are more unpredictable and interesting to follow than Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman.
When Fetterman was elected to the Senate in 2022, every expectation was he would be a solid progressive member. He was an early supporter of Bernie Sanders 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination. When Fetterman ran for Pennsylvania Lt. Governor, Sanders endorsed him. Much has changed since then.
During Donald Trump’s second term, Fetterman broke with fellow Senate Democrats on several high-profile issues. They include but are not limited to voting “yes” multiple times to reopen the federal government, rather than demand concessions on health care, voting “yes” on legislation on immigration that did not contain protections for DACA recipients, and voting d “no” on war powers resolutions to limit President Trump’s military authority in the conflict in Iran. He has been and is one of Israel’s strongest supporters.
His steadily increasing number of Democratic detractors increasingly view him with disdain as unreliable, untrustworthy, not fully committed to the Democratic Party.
Perhaps the most repugnant action of Fetterman for countless progressive Democrats who despise the President is Fetterman’s refusal to attack Donald Trump. On December 22, 2024, during an interview on ABC’s This Week in Review with Jonathan Karl, Fetterman said, “I’m not ever going to be where I want a President to fail.”
The latest news causing Democrats’ frustration with Fetterman is news that he and Pennsylvania’s Republican U.S. Senator David McCormick have launched a joint fundraising committee that will collect donations benefiting both of their reelection campaigns and other campaigns.
The committee, Common Ground PA links the campaign and leadership PAC infrastructure of both Fetterman McCormick. Four political entities are listed in the filing: Fetterman’s principal campaign committee (Fetterman for PA), his leadership PAC (Every Vote PAC), McCormick’s principal campaign committee (Friends of Dave McCormick), and McCormick’s leadership PAC (Pennsylvania Honor).
Some suggest this fundraising partnership with McCormick is a prelude to Fetterman switching parties and becoming a Republican. Fetterman has repeatedly pushed back on this speculation. In a Washington Post opinion piece, he wrote: “I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.”
No doubt he is aware that a former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania – Arlen Specter –was elected to the Senate five times despite being called a RINO (REPUBLICAN IN NAME ONLY).
Specter lost his bid for re-election for a sixth term after switching his party affiliation and his Senate caucus membership affiliation from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.
Some political observers suggest Fetterman’s fundraising partnership with McCormick is driven by being challenged for reelection by opposition in the 2028 Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
The reality is, Fetterman will be challenged, and this fundraising partnership will actually increase the chances of one or more viable primary challengers.
Fetterman’s widely publicized words and actions have already energized and mobilized many Democratic progressives who conclude the fundraising partnership further affirms Fetterman is a DINO, a Democrat in Name Only.
Fetterman challenges that characterization, maintaining that, on roll-call votes in the Senate, he votes with the Democratic Caucus approximately 90% of the time.
There may well be a yet-to-be-disclosed reason Fetterman has launched a joint fundraising initiative with David McCormick.
Recently, Democratic Socialist candidates have been defeating traditional Democratic Party candidates in primary and general elections across the country. Among other changes, Democratic Socialist candidates support eliminating capitalism in America. That is a stark contrast to the views of more traditional Democratic candidates who accept capitalism and are focused on government regulations within a capitalist system.
Fetterman may have concluded that now is the time for a long game initiative within the Democratic party to support those candidates who do not embrace the views of Democratic Socialist candidates.
In a move that will most surely result in an irreparable deep split with progressive icon Bernie Sanders, Fetterman has criticized Sander’s support for and defense of Graham Platner a former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine. Platner is Democratic Socialist who withdrew from the race after multiple news reports about his alleged sexual misconduct.
In an article in The Hill, Fetterman has said bluntly, “He [Sanders] keeps pushing these communists and these awful anti-Americans … on people in my party.”
Time will tell if and how well Common Ground PA will succeed in raising funds for the campaign committees of Senators Fetterman and McCormick, and also if and how well it may succeed in a long game to support campaign committees of viable moderate candidates from either political party.
All we know with a high degree of certainty is that for at least the next two years, what John Fetterman says and does will be unpredictable. It is a role he enjoys and has mastered.
We also know that much of what he says and does will frustrate and aggravate his progressive Senate colleagues, as well as many progressive people elsewhere across the country.
David Reel is a public affairs consultant and public relations consultant. He lives in Easton.